Brush holder



L. C. DAVIS BRUSH HOLDER April 29 1924;

Filed April 21. 1920 INVENTOR.

BY W aw WITNESS:

A TTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 29 i24 STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAWRENCE C. DAVIS, OF OliIICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 'IO'DENTAIBRUSI I COMPANY,

A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

BRUSH HOLDER.

Application filed April fil, 1920. Serial No. 375,528.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE C. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States, residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of e Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Brush Holders, of which the following isja specification.

The inventionrelates to handles for tooth brushes of the type wherein the brush body 1c is removable to admit of the substitution of a newbrush body for an old one, and the principal object thereof is to simplify the construction of such a holder and to reduce the quantity of stock employed and the cost is of manufacture, without impairing the ability of said holder to securely retain the brush body when the brush is in use. It is a further object of the invention to avoid insanitary accumulation of foreign subac stances, and to accomplish this and other objects without-making the brush body undesirably large, it being a desideratum to minimize the size of the brush body in order thatit may be made to elfectively reach all parts of the teeth.

I have found that a tooth-brush holder, if constructed with opposed retaining walls, may be made to securely retain a substantially rectangular brush body during all conditions of use, provided the depth of said retaining wall is approximately one-half the height of the brush body, and that the liability of displacement of the brush body, if any, is eliminated if said walls are united at their ends to thereby prevent their lateral separation in any substantial degree.

The rectangular brush body which I employ is largely composed of a substance which materially swells when moistened, the object of using a substance of this kind being to render available the pressure which it exerts when wetted for the purpose of insuring its retention in the brush holder.

In order to insure retention of the brush body in the holder when said brush body is in a dry condition, the brush holder is shaped in such way as to slightly distort said brush body when it is inserted therein, one means for accomplishing distortion of the brush body which I may employ being convergent end portions of the side walls of the holder which are adapted to indent or displace the lower endcorners of the brush body. These divergent portions of the retaining wallsmay be formed with the same routing instrument 'which'produoes the cavity between the walls. If produced in this manner, the'ends of thecavity will be of,

semi-circular form and constitute extensions'of said cavity. If the holder is molded instead of being cut, the spaces at the ends thereof may be triangular or other shape, instead of semi-circular.

In applying a'brush body to the brush holder, the brush body may be inserted in the cavity of said brush holder with only 'suflicient pressure to effectuate the slight distortion of the corner portions, the wedging action at said corners being entirel suficient td cause retention of said brus body in the holder for the time being. After the 'brush has been moistened, the brush body will swell and become securely anchored in place until such time as another brush body is to be substituted therefor.

In so far'as the absorptive property of the brush body and its ability to swell and automatically hold itself in position are concerned, itis immaterial of what substance such body is composed so long as the substance'employed answers to these requirements. However, I have found that lufla fibre is a substance which swells sufliciently to retain itself in a handle having an 0 en cavity, and that in addition'to this that ii re constitutes an admirable and satisfactory means for polishing the teeth and massaging the gums.

The invention will be understood by referring to the accompanying drawings in which.

Fig. 1 is a plan view;

Fig. 2is a perspective view showing a compressed brush body having distorted corners;

Fig. 3 is a view showing the brush in section and side elevation; a

Fig. 4 represents a vertical cross sectio of the brush taken on the line 41-24, Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 represents a vertical cross section of the brush when wet and swollen, and

Fig. 6 is a plan View of a'fragment of a modified form of brush holder containin a brush body.

The head 1 of the brush holder is preferably made from the same piece of material as the handle 2 of said holder, this material being celluloid or other non-absorptive substance which is easy to clean and may be easily cut or shaped by suitable tools. Wood may be used in the manufacture of the cheaper brush holders, although brush holders made of this material will only. be supplied for emergency purposes in such places as hotels and, sleeping; cars, a

' The. head 1 of the holder is provided; with opposed substantially vertical walls 3, between which is a cavity 4, said walls 3 being preferably held from springing apart under pressure of the brush body by sub stantially vertical end walls 5 which may be semi-circular in form. A semi-circular form is preferred, mainly, because the cavity 4 and its extensions are readily formed in the piece of'stock material whichis to constitute the holder by a rotary routing tool relatively to which the. stock material is moved lengthwise when the cavity is being formed A drainage opening 6 provides for; emission of water whenthe cavity 4 is. being cleansed, and this opening. is preferably in the free end of the brush head in order that residual water may be expelled, by centrifugal force produced by a. quick movement sion, but if made of absorptive expansible material it will, when, moistened, press against the opposed Walls of the cavity and automatically hold itself in position. These opposed walls should, however, be of considerable height relative to the vertical dimensions of the block, for otherwise leverage exerted laterally of said block. while cleaning the teeth might be sufficient to tilt and separate it from the holder. I have found that if these walls approximate in height one-half the height. ofthe block, .said block will remain in place within the-holder .under the most severe condition of use.

Proper dimensions are respectively three- SlXtGQlltllSafllld seven-sixteenthsof an inch for, the wallsand theblockwhere the other q dimensions are as above given.

The cavity 4, including its semi-cylindrical ends, should be slightly longer than the block so that the lower corners 7, of said block will wedge between the converging walls 5 when the brush body is inserted in the holder. The entire cavity may, for example, be fifty-seven sixty-fourths of an inch long if the length of the rectangular block is fifty-six sixty-fourths of an inch, and if these dimensions are observed the convergence of the semi-circular walls 5 will be effective in producing the necessary wedging action and hold the block until it is, moistened and swollen and becomes firmly fixed. in the cavity 4. Substantially the same result is attained if the ends of the cavity are of triangular form as shown in Fig, 6.

The mass of, luifa or other expansible fibre 9 should be of suflicient thickness relative to the penetrative filaments 8 and to the head 1 of the brush holder and its cavity 4, to. admit of the required degree of expansion of the brush body. This mass would approximate three thirty-seconds of an inch in width. if the brush body were four thirty-seconds of. an inch thick. Such a mass, furthermore, will expand over the sides of thebrush holder and thereprotrude to suchv extent as to. form marginal rubbing surfaces quite distant from the penetrative filaments, thus greatly enchancing the utility of'the brush as an instrument for massaging the gums. Scrubbing of the teeth andthe removal of plaques will be accomplished by the face of the brush body, whereas polishing and massaging will be eflectuated by turning the brush on its side tobring into action only the soft expanded and protruding fibres.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is I 1. A holder having substantially straight and parallel lateral walls forming a cavity between them, combined with a toothbrush body comprising. a compressed, absorptive and highly expansible block containing tooth-cleaning filaments.

2. A holder for a tooth-brush body, having an elongated. cavity, the parts of the Wall adjacentthe ends of the cavity being convergent to engage the corners. of a rectangular tooth-brush body, and the sides of said cavity being substantially parallel to engage; the sides of said body.

3. The combination with a yielding toothbrush body having a height greater than its width, of a continuous integral walled rigid. holder provided with an open-top cavity. having unobstructed plane sides of approximately the. shape. of said tooth-brush body and of. a depth approximating. half the heigh of "said, tooth-brush body.

4. The combination with a holder having a cavity narrowed at its ends, of a toothand consisting of rows of penetrative filabrush body approximating only the Width ments and an envelope of absorptive fire of said cavity and terminating at its ends which when wetted is capable of expanding 19 Within the narrowed portions thereof. over the sides of said holder to thereby form 5 5. The combination of a holder for a laterally disposed massaging surfaces.

tooth-brush body, and a compressed toothbrush body removably secured in said holder LAWRENCE C. DAVIS. 

